System and method for remote update of display pages

ABSTRACT

A system and method may include a device, e.g., a cellular telephone, and a server providing for remotely updating display pages of the device. The server may: provide for display of a webpage including a first section having a visual replication of a display page of the device and a second section including a plurality of graphical objects, the webpage including interactive functionality for modification of the visual replication in response to a drag-and-drop operation of one of the plurality of graphical objects to a position in the visual replication; and, responsive to receipt of an instruction to permanently set the modification, transmit a synchronization message to the device indicating an association of the one of the plurality of graphical objects with the position. In accordance with the synchronization message, the device may update a data store used by the device for generating the display page.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/925,588, which was filed in the U.S. Patent Office on Oct.26, 2007, and which is expressly incorporated herein in its entirety byreference thereto.

BACKGROUND

Service providers for devices, e.g., handheld devices such as cellulardevices, often maintain websites which service users may access tomanage and/or view information pertaining to the users' accounts.However, the extent to which a user can control the device at which theservice is provided via such a website is limited.

It is desirable to expand integration of the device and website since itis often easier to manage data and visual objects on devices, other thanthe devices at which the service is provided, via which access may beprovided to the websites. For example, cellular telephones often haveless processing power and are generally smaller than personal computers(PCs), so that viewing and manipulating data and objects on the cellulartelephones is more difficult and less efficient than via a PC.

A conventional handheld device such as a cellular telephone may includeapplications which may be executed on the device for manipulation of orinteraction with graphical objects, such as icons, in response to userinput at the device. The graphical object manipulation or interactioncan include, e.g., selection of an object, the selection interpreted asan instruction to perform an action, placement of the object in aparticular position on a display screen, and/or a purchase order of agraphical object to be transmitted to the device.

It is desirable to provide, in an efficient and easy-to-use manner,functionality to manipulate and interact with graphical objects of orfor the device at which the service is provided at a device remote fromthe device at which the service is provided.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention allow a service provider to offerhandheld device users a web-based and user-friendly interface forupdating their handheld devices. A server (operated by the serviceprovider) may provide data storage for current data and settings, aswell as archived data and additional content from either the serviceprovider or a third party. The server may provide any terminal capableof viewing webpages and connected to the same network (e.g., theInternet) with an update interface where the users may enter changesthat are then synchronized with their handheld device. Synchronizationmay occur in real-time or upon some event trigger, such as clicking“save changes” or “place order.” Synchronization may be implemented bysending SMS and MMS messages between the server and the handheld device.

In an example embodiment, the service provider may be a cellular serviceprovider and the handheld devices may be cellular phones, personaldigital assistants, and/or other wireless communication devices. Thedevices may include a plurality of contacts records and a graphicalicons, e.g., for representing respective contacts records in a displaypage. In an example embodiment, a predetermined number, e.g., five, ofthe contacts records or portions thereof may be selected as a subset tobe represented on a display page. For example, the subset may includecontacts records having information regarding contacts with whom theuser most often communicates or otherwise considered as “favorites” ofthe user. For example, the subset may correspond to those contactsrecords or communication path information, e.g., phone number(s), ofthose contacts records for which prices for communication with thehandheld device differs from prices applied to other contacts records orportions thereof. These favorites may be presented in the display pageof a graphical user interface of the handheld device in an order theuser sets. Aside from storage at the handheld device, the contactsrecords and/or favorites identifications may be stored at the server.

The server may provide a webpage including a representation of thedisplay page provided at the handheld device to any terminal with a webbrowser. Additionally, the webpage may include a representation of avault including a plurality of graphical icons which may be selected forassociation with the contacts records. The webpage may includefunctionality for the user to drag and drop icons from the vaultrepresentation to the display page representation to change theassociation between the positions in the display page representing thesubset of the contacts records and the graphical objects placed in thepositions on the display page. The server may perform a synchronizationoperation to update the display page of the handheld device to conformto the updates made to the display page representation. Any changes madeat the handheld device, e.g., via a local program of the handhelddevice, may also be synchronized back to the server.

An example embodiment of the present invention may provide a system forupdating display pages of a handheld device. The system may include: afirst server configured to maintain a website; a first device configuredto access the first server; and a second device configured to display adisplay page having a set of defined positions. In response to theaccess by the first device, the first server may transmit to the firstdevice a webpage including a first section having a representation ofthe display page that visually appears as at least a portion of thedisplay page including the set of defined positions and a second sectionhaving a plurality of graphical objects. The first device may: displaythe webpage; receive user input interpreted as an interaction with thewebpage to update the display page representation to include at one ofthe defined positions a selected one of the graphical objects; andtransmit to the first server data indicating that the update is to beapplied to the display page. Responsive to receipt of the datatransmitted to the first server, the first server may: update apositions-objects association, e.g., a table, such that the updatedpositions-objects association associates the one of the definedpositions with the selected graphical object; and transmit asynchronization message to the second device identifying the associationof the one of the defined positions with the selected graphical object.The second device may display, in accordance with the synchronizationmessage, an updated version of the display page including the selectedgraphical object at the one of the defined positions.

In an example variant of this embodiment, the plurality of graphicalobjects of the second portion may include graphical objects offered forsale by a content provider. Responsive to receipt of the datatransmitted to the first server, the first server may send a purchaserequest to the content provider for the selected graphical object. Thefirst server may receive a copy of the selected graphical object fromthe content provider.

The copy may be sent by the content provider without Digital RightsManagement (DRM) protection to the first server, the first server maymodify the copy to include the DRM protection, and the identification ofthe association of the one of the defined positions with the selectedgraphical object in the synchronization message may include the modifiedcopy.

In another example variant of this embodiment, which may be implementedwith or separate from the previously described variant, the data may betransmitted to the first server in response to a user input instructionto update the display page to appear as the updated display pagerepresentation.

In another example variant of this embodiment, which may be implementedwith or separate from one or both of the previously described variants,the synchronization message may include at least one of a ShortMessaging Service (SMS) and a Multimedia Messaging service (MMS)message.

The second device may store a first MMS profile and a second MMSprofile. The synchronization message may include an MMS message that isin accordance with the second MMS profile. The second device may outputan alert responsive to receipt of a message that is in accordance withthe first MMS profile and not in response to receipt of any message thatis in accordance with the second MMS profile. The display of the updatedversion of the display page by the second device may occur without anyuser interaction with the second device.

In another example variant of this embodiment, which may be implementedwith or separate from some or all of the previously described variants,each of the set of defined positions may be reserved for associationwith a corresponding contacts record. The display page of the seconddevice may include functionality such that responsive to selection ofthe selected graphical object in the one of the defined positions of theupdated version of the display page, the second device may display thecontacts record corresponding to the one of the defined positions orinitiate a communication in accordance with at least one communicationlisting of the corresponding contacts record.

In another example variant of this embodiment, which may be implementedwith or separate from some or all of the previously described variants,responsive to user input entered at the second device for updating thedisplay page to include at the one of the defined positions a secondgraphical object, the second device may transmit a synchronizationmessage to the first server identifying the association of the one ofthe defined positions with the second graphical object. Responsive toreceipt of the synchronization message transmitted by the second device,the first server may update a positions-objects association.

Updating the display page to include at the one of the defined positionsthe second graphical object may include the second device transmitting arequest to a content provider to purchase the second graphical object.Responsive to the request, the content provider may transmit a versionof the second graphical object having Digital Rights Management (DRM)protection to the second device and a version of the second graphicalobject without the DRM protection to the first server. Theidentification of the association of the one of the defined positionswith the second graphical object may identify the version of the secondgraphical object transmitted by the content provider to the firstserver.

In another example variant of this embodiment, which may be implementedwith or separate from some or all of the previously described variants,the interaction may include a drag-and-drop operation of the selectedgraphical object from the second section to the one of the definedpositions in the first section.

In another example variant of this embodiment, which may be implementedwith or separate from some or all of the previously described variants,the second device may be a cellular telephone.

In another example variant of this embodiment, which may be implementedwith or separate from some or all of the previously described variants,the first server and the website may be maintained by a provider ofcellular service to the cellular telephone.

In another example variant of this embodiment, which may be implementedwith or separate from some or all of the previously described variants,the plurality of graphical objects of the second portion may includegraphical objects offered for sale. Responsive to receipt of the datatransmitted to the first server, the first server may: send a copy ofthe selected graphical object without Digital Rights Management (DRM)protection to a second server; and generate a copy of the selectedgraphical object including the DRM protection. The synchronizationmessage may include the copy including the DRM protection.

An example method of the present invention, for updating display pagesof a handheld device, may include, responsive to access of a firstserver by a first device, the first server transmitting to the firstdevice a webpage. The webpage may includes a first section having arepresentation of a display page that a second device is configured todisplay. The display page that the second device is configured todisplay may have a set of defined positions. The webpage may alsoinclude a second section having a plurality of graphical objects. Therepresentation of the display page may visually appear as at least aportion of the display page including the set of defined positions. Themethod may further include the first device: displaying the webpage;receiving user input interpreted as an interaction with the webpage toupdate the display page representation to include at one of the definedpositions a selected one of the graphical objects; and transmitting tothe first server data indicating that the update is to be applied to thedisplay page. The method may further include, responsive to receipt ofthe data transmitted to the first server, the first server: updating apositions-objects association such that the updated positions-objectsassociation associates the one of the defined positions with theselected graphical object; and transmitting a synchronization message tothe second device identifying the association of the one of the definedpositions with the selected graphical object. The method may furtherinclude the second device displaying, in accordance with thesynchronization message, an updated version of the display pageincluding the selected graphical object at the one of the definedpositions.

In an example variant of the method, the plurality of graphical objectsof the second portion may include graphical objects offered for sale bya content provider and the method may further include: responsive toreceipt of the data transmitted to the first server, the first serversending a purchase request to the content provider for the selectedgraphical object; and the first server receiving a copy of the selectedgraphical object from the content provider.

The copy may be sent by the content provider without Digital RightsManagement (DRM) protection to the first server and the method mayfurther include: the first server modifying the copy to include the DRMprotection. The association of the one of the defined positions with theselected graphical object in the synchronization message may include themodified copy.

In another example variant of the method, which may be implemented withor separate from the previously described variant, the data may betransmitted to the first server in response to a user input instructionto update the display page to appear as the updated display pagerepresentation.

In another example variant of the method, which may be implemented withor separate from one or both of the previously described variants, thesynchronization message includes at least one of a Short MessagingService (SMS) and a Multimedia Messaging service (MMS) message.

The method may further include the second device: storing a first MMSprofile and a second MMS profile, the synchronization message includingan MMS message that is in accordance with the second MMS profile; andoutputting an alert responsive to receipt of a message that is inaccordance with the first MMS profile and not in response to receipt ofany message that is in accordance with the second MMS profile.

In another example variant of the method, which may be implemented withor separate from some or all of the previously described variants, eachof the set of defined positions may be reserved for association with acorresponding contacts record, and the display page of the second devicemay include functionality such that responsive to selection of theselected graphical object in the one of the defined positions of theupdated version of the display page, the second device displays thecontacts record corresponding to the one of the defined positions orinitiates a communication in accordance with at least one communicationlisting of the corresponding contacts record.

In another example variant of the method, which may be implemented withor separate from some or all of the previously described variants, themethod may further include: responsive to user input entered at thesecond device for updating the display page to include at the one of thedefined positions a second graphical object, the second devicetransmitting a synchronization message to the first server identifyingthe association of the one of the defined positions with the secondgraphical object; and responsive to receipt of the synchronizationmessage transmitted by the second device, the first server updating apositions-objects association.

The method may further include: responsive to the user input entered atthe second device for updating the display page, the second devicetransmitting a request to a content provider to purchase the secondgraphical object; the second device receiving from the content providera version of the second graphical object having Digital RightsManagement (DRM) protection and that was transmitted to the seconddevice by the content provider in response to the request; and the firstserver receiving from the content provider a version of the secondgraphical object without the DRM protection that was transmitted to thefirst server by the content provider in response to the request. Theidentification of the association of the one of the defined positionswith the second graphical object of the synchronization messagetransmitted by the second device may identify the version of the secondgraphical object received by the first server from the content provider.

In another example variant of the method, which may be implemented withor separate from some or all of the previously described variants, theinteraction may include a drag-and-drop operation of the selectedgraphical object from the second section to the one of the definedpositions in the first section.

An example display page modification method of the present invention mayinclude providing a webpage including a first section having a visualreplication of at least a portion of a display page of a device and asecond section including a plurality of graphical objects. The webpagemay include interactive functionality for modification of the visualreplication in response to a drag-and-drop operation of one of theplurality of graphical objects to a position in the visual replication.The method may further include, responsive to receipt of an instructionto permanently set the modification, transmitting a synchronizationmessage to the device indicating an association of the one of theplurality of graphical objects with the position.

An example embodiment of the present invention may provide ahardware-implemented computer-readable medium having stored thereoninstructions adapted to be executed by a processor, the instructionswhich, when executed, cause the processor to perform a display pagemodification method. The display page modification method may include:providing a webpage including a first section having a visualreplication of at least a portion of a display page of a device and asecond section including a plurality of graphical objects, the webpageincluding interactive functionality for modification of the visualreplication in response to a drag-and-drop operation of one of theplurality of graphical objects to a position in the visual replication;and responsive to receipt of an instruction to permanently set themodification, transmitting a synchronization message to the deviceindicating an association of the one of the plurality of graphicalobjects with the position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates components of a systemaccording to an example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a display screen and a table associatedwith a display of a part of the display screen, according to an exampleembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 3 a and 3 b are flowcharts illustrating a method of remotelyupdating a display page of a handheld device, according to exampleembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of updating a display datastore of a server based on changes to a display page of a handhelddevice, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a system according to an example embodiment of the presentinvention. The system may include a server 100 including a processor 102a and a memory 104. The processor 102 a may execute applicationinstructions stored, for example, in the memory 104. The execution ofthe application instructions may include processing of data stored inthe memory 104 and communicating with a content provider 110, handhelddevice 120, and/or remote device 130.

The memory 104 may include, for example, any conventional hardwareimplemented memory device and may store, for example, a graphical objectvault 105, a display data store 106, a display update application 107, acontent synchronization application 108, and a Digital Rights Management(DRM) handler 109.

The vault 105 and display data store 106 may include data associatedwith a user account of a service, e.g., wireless telephone service,provided via the handheld device 120. The handheld device 120 mayinclude hardware and/or software that provides for wirelesscommunications between the handheld device 120 and other devices. Thehandheld device 120 may be embodied as, for example, a cellulartelephone or a personal digital assistant (PDA).

The vault 105 may include a collection of graphical objects, e.g.,icons. The icons may include, for example, ones the user has instructedthe server to place in the vault 105, ones previously purchased from thecontent provider 110, and/or ones previously or currently set atpositions provided in a Graphical User Interface (GUI) 122 of a displayof the handheld device 120, e.g., where the icons set in the positionsof the GUI 122 may be provided with functionality such as selectabilityinterpreted as instruction input. The icon positioning may include, forexample, placement of icons in positions associated with records of acontacts database, where each record includes information regarding asingle corresponding contact. Examples of such information include butare not limited to, a name, one or more telephone numbers, a fax number,a home address, a blog site, and an e-mail address. The handheld device120 may be programmed to interpret selection by a user via an inputdevice of the handheld device 120, e.g., a keyboard, of one of the iconsin a position associated with a corresponding contacts record as aninstruction to perform an action related to the corresponding contactsrecord. For example, in response to selection of the icon, the handhelddevice 120 may, e.g., display in the GUI 122 stored information aboutthe contact, e.g., the contacts record, or may initiate a communicationsession in accordance with a communication listing of the contactsrecord, e.g., place a call to one of the listed telephone numbers orsend an e-mail message to one of the listed e-mail addresses of thecontacts record.

The display data store 106 may include data indicating user preferencesof the user account regarding one or more display pages to be providedvia the GUI 122 of the handheld device 120. The user preferences mayinclude preferences regarding the positioning of icons, e.g., copies ofwhich may be stored in the vault 105, on the one or more display pages.It is noted that some or all of the data of the display data store 106may be stored in one or more servers other than the server 100, whichprovides the website.

The data store 106 or parts thereof may also be stored in a memory 124of the handheld device 120 so that the display pages may be generated atthe handheld device 120 without a connection to the server 100.

The display update application 107 may include instructions forexecution by the processor 102 a for generating a webpage of a websitevia which a user may access the data of the vault 105 and the displaydata store 106 using any device running a web browser, e.g., the remotedevice 130, which may be connected to the server 100 via a network suchas the Internet. It is noted that the handheld device 120 itself maysimilarly access the webpage if it runs a web browser. The processor 102a, when executing instructions of the display update application 107,may update the data of the vault 105 and/or the display data store 106.It will be appreciated that the instructions of the display updateapplication 107 and/or the content synchronization 108 may be executedby the processor 102 a of the server 100 or by a processor of the remotedevice 130 accessing the website provided by the server 100. Similarly,some of the instructions may be executed at the server 100 and othersmay be executed at the remote device 130. For example, instructionsusing the DRM Handler 109 (described below) may be executed at theserver 100, while other instructions for modifying the webpageappearance may be executed at the remote device 130. Which processorexecutes instructions may depend on the architecture and topology usedto implement the invention.

The generated webpage may include graphical representations of thecontents of the vault 105 and one or more display pages that may begenerated at the handheld device 120 (e.g., via local non-web programsof the handheld device 120) in accordance with the display data store106. For example, FIG. 2 shows a webpage 200 including a display pagerepresentation 201 and a vault representation 202. While the graphicalelements in the display pages generated at the handheld device may beprovided with apparent functionality, such that the processor 102 b ofthe handheld device 120 may perform an action in response to selectionof the graphical elements, the representations of the display pages inthe webpages of the website provided by the server 100, which mayvisually appear approximately or exactly as the display pages orportions thereof, may include the same graphical elements as the displaypages but without such functionality. For example, the display pages andthe display page representations may look alike, but an icon of thedisplay page, selection of which may cause the processor 102 b toperform an action, may be represented by a corresponding icon in thedisplay page representation without such functionality. Functionalitymay include placing a call to a number listed in a contacts recordassociated with the icon from the handheld device 120 or displaying dataof the contacts record on the GUI 122. The display of the display pagerepresentation(s) at the remote device 130 at which the webpage isaccessed may be for allowing the user to interact with the webpage toupdate the corresponding display page of the handheld device 120.

In an alternative example embodiment, some of the functionality providedvia the display page may also be provided with the display pagerepresentation via which the display page may be updated or with anotherrepresentation of the web page. For example, functionality forresponsively displaying a contacts record may also be provided via thewebpage.

The display update application 107 may include instructions forexecution by a processor that allows a user to change one or moredisplay pages of the handheld device 120 in response to interaction withthe display page representations of the webpage and/or the graphicalobjects of the vault 105. Alternatively, the display update application107 may generate the webpage with code that allows the processor of theremote device 130 to perform the modification. For example, the displayupdate application 107 may provide for a drag-and-drop functionalityassociated with pre-determined user input via an input device, e.g., acomputer mouse, applied to locations within the webpage that correspondto the graphical objects of the vault 105 and objects or positionswithin the display page representations of the webpage. The user inputmay be, for example, a combination of a mouse click, a mouse movement,and a mouse release. The user may select an object from within the vaultrepresentation 202, drag the object via movement of the mouse to aposition within the display page representation 201, and drop the objectat the position.

Responsive to the user input, the processor may graphically representthe drag-and-drop operation. The selected graphical object may be shownmoving from the vault representation 202 together with a mouse pointerto the position on the display page representation 201 at which the userdrops the graphical object, e.g., as shown in FIG. 2. In an exampleembodiment of the present invention, when the user moves a graphicalobject from the vault representation 202 into a vicinity of a listedposition of the display page representation 201, the processor mayhighlight the position, as shown in FIG. 2, to inform the user that adrop of the graphical object would place the object into the highlightedposition.

As described above, some positions within the display pages displayed atthe handheld device 120 and for which representations may be providedvia the webpage may be associated or reserved for association withcontacts records. A contacts record may include information such as oneor more phone numbers, name, address, or any other data of a contact.The contacts records with which the positions of the display page may beassociated may be a subset of a greater collection of contacts recordsof the display data store 106. For example, the subset may be those forwhich speed dial numbers have been assigned at the handheld device 120or may be part of a “favorites” list. In an example embodiment of thepresent invention, the display data store 106 (and a corresponding datastore of the handheld device 120) may include a list of the positions ofa display page that are reserved for association with contacts recordsand an identification of the association of each of the positions with acorresponding contacts record if such an association has been made. Forexample, referring to FIG. 2, the top right circle of the display pagerepresentation 201 may be listed as position 1 of a table 203 of thedisplay data store 106 and may be associated with an identification of acontacts record for “Shaun.” It is noted that the location on thedisplay page of a listed position need not be fixed. For example, aprogram of the handheld device 120 and/or of the website may provide forrotation of the positions in the display page and/or the display pagerepresentation in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction. Regardlessof the rotation, the list of the table 203 may be left unchanged. Thetable 203 may further associate the position (and the contacts record)with a graphical objects called “icon 1.” The table 203 may further listthe other positions shown as circles in the display page representation201 and their associated contacts records and graphical objects. If aposition has not yet been associated with a contacts record, column 2 ofthe table 203 may be unpopulated at the row corresponding to theunassociated position. Similarly, if a position has not yet beenassociated with a graphical object, column 3 of the table 203 may beunpopulated or may include a pointer to a default object at the rowcorresponding to the unassociated position.

In response to the drag-and-drop operation, the display updateapplication 107 may update the table 203 when the server 100 receivesthe update from the remote device 130. For example, if the user drops anicon retrieved from the display of the vault 105 onto a position displaypage representation, the display update application 107 may update thetable 203 to include at the row corresponding to the position onto whichthe icon was dropped a pointer to a file having the dropped icon. In anexample embodiment of the present invention, the display updateapplication 107 (or the processor of the remote device 130) may maintaina copy of the table 203 to which the changes are initially applied inresponse to the drag-and-drop operation. After further user inputinstructing the display update application 107 to fix the changes isreceived, e.g., via selection by the user of a graphical button stating“apply changes,” the display update application 107 may entercorresponding changes to the table 203 of the display data store 106.

In an example embodiment of the present invention, the display updateapplication 107 may provide for exchanging graphical objects betweenpositions of the display page representation. For example, in responseto a drag and drop of an icon shown at a first position to a secondposition, the processor (of the server 100 or the remote device 130) maydisplay at the first position the icon previously shown at the secondposition, if any. In an example embodiment, the contacts recordsassociated with the first and second positions may also becorrespondingly exchanged. Alternatively, the contacts recordsassociations may be left in the state extant prior to the drag-and-dropoperation. In an exemplary variant of this alternative embodiment, thedisplay update application 107 may provide for a drag-and-drop operationof other data displayed in a vicinity of the positions for manipulationof the contacts records associations with the positions. For example, inresponse to a drag-and-drop operation of “Shaun” to position 2, thedisplay update application 107 may ultimately switch the contactsrecords for “Shaun” and “Jerod” in the table 203.

After the user has made a change to the display page representation, thedisplay update application 107 may invoke the content synchronizationapplication 108 to propagate the changes from the server 100 to thehandheld device 120 via a communication link. In an example embodimentin which the handheld device 120 is a cellular phone and the server ismaintained by a service provider that provides service to the cellularphone 120, this link may include a wireless connection for the handhelddevice 120 and various other conventional network topologies used by theservice provider.

The content synchronization application 108 may use a data transferprotocol, such as Short Messaging Service (SMS) and/or MultimediaMessaging Service (MMS). Such protocols are conventionally used fortransfer of text messages, pictures, audio clips, and other multimediaelements. Conventionally, once a message or multimedia element isdelivered to a wireless device, a message or flag is issued to alert theuser of the device that a new message or multimedia element has beendelivered.

In an example embodiment of the present invention, the contentsynchronization application 108 may send an SMS/MMS message to thehandheld device 120 to inform it of the update to the display page madeby user interaction with the display page representation of the webpage.The message(s) may be sent immediately in response to a drag-and-dropoperation. Alternatively, the message(s) may be sent in response to aninstruction by the user to permanently set the changes, as describedabove.

In an example embodiment of the present invention, the system and methodmay withhold user alerts alerting the user of the handheld device 120 ofthe incoming SMS/MMS message(s) received from the contentsynchronization application 108, since such alerts may be disruptive ofthe user experience at the handheld device 120 and unnecessary since theupdates are made via the website and not via operation of local programsof the handheld device 120. In some situations involving an embodimentof the present invention, alerts acknowledging updates to the displayare more appropriate, and thus conducted, via the website than via localprograms of the handheld device 120. In an example embodiment, thesynchronization occurs “behind the scenes.”

Accordingly, in an example embodiment of the present invention, thehandheld device 120 may store multiple messaging profiles. If anincoming message matches a first messaging profile, the handheld device120 may output an alert indicating the presence of a new message. If anincoming message matches a second messaging profile, the handheld device120 may update a data store in accordance with information of theincoming message and may abstain from outputting a user alert of themessage. In an example embodiment of the present invention, the contentsynchronization application 108 may send an SMS message to the handhelddevice 120 indicating that an update is to be made. The contentsynchronization application 108 may send an MMS message following theSMS message and including the substance of the change. The SMS/MMSmessage may be in accordance with the second messaging profile.Accordingly, upon receipt of the SMS/MMS message, the handheld device120 may make the appropriate update(s) without outputting an alertmessage to the user.

The MMS messages sent by the content synchronization application 108 toindicate an update of an association of graphical objects with positionnumbers may follow a predetermined structure of the second messagingprofile. The structure may provide for initially indicating a positionnumber or numbers, then a separator indicating an end of the positionnumber list, and then the files including the graphical objects to beassociated with the listed position numbers. If a change to the displaypage representation via the webpage affects only one of the positions,the MMS message may include an identification of only the singleaffected position and its corresponding graphical object. If the changeto the display page representation via the webpage affects multiplepositions, all of the affected positions may be listed, followed by therespective associated graphical object files.

In response to receipt of the MMS message, the processor 102 b of thehandheld device 120 may update its local table of positions tocorrespond to the table 203 maintained at the server 100. When thedisplay page for which the display page representation was provided viathe website and via which the user of the webpage entered changesregarding the positions of the representation is subsequently displayedon the GUI 122 of the handheld device 120, the processor 102 b maygenerate the display page in accordance with the updated table of thehandheld device 120. The display page may therefore appear as, and besynchronized with, the updated display page representation of thewebpage. Similarly, the local data store including the table of thehandheld device 120 may accordingly be synchronized with the table 203of the display data store 106.

According to the example embodiment of the present invention in whichother updates to the display data store 106 may be made, such as updatesto the positions with which contacts records may be associated, thecontent synchronization application 108 may similarly send othermessages structured in a predetermined manner in response to receipt ofwhich the processor 102 b of the handheld device 120 may update thelocal data store to reflect the changes.

Some benefits of some embodiments of the present invention providing forentering changes using the web page and therefore for entering thechanges using the remote device 130 rather than at the handheld device120 include, e.g., a larger view screen, larger input keyboard, andfaster hardware. Benefits of a handheld device 120 over stationarydevices include its mobility and ability to always be with the user.Aside from providing for changes to the display pages to be made viainteraction with webpages of the website maintained at the server 100,an example embodiment of the present invention additionally provides formaking similar changes directly using local non-web programs of thehandheld device 120. Such changes at the handheld device 120 may be madewithout receipt of messages from the content synchronization application108.

For example, a user may select a locally stored icon or picture, e.g.,an icon obtained directly from a content provider 110 or a picture takenwith a built-in digital camera, for association with one of thepositions of the display page of the handheld device 120 using a localprogram of the handheld device 120. In response to an update of adisplay page of the handheld device 120 entered using a local program ofthe handheld device 120, an application on the handheld device 120 may,similar to the content synchronization application 108 of the server100, send a message to the server 100 informing it of the update. Thecontent synchronization 108 may receive the message from the handhelddevice 120 and provide the data to the display update application 107 tohandle the update of the display data store 106 and/or the vault 105 inaccordance with the received message. The message sent by the handhelddevice 120 to the server 100 may be of the same type of SMS/MMS messagessent by the server 100 to the handheld device 120, as described above.

Synchronization in either direction may be triggered in alternativeways. In an example embodiment of the present invention, the userclicking a “save changes” button or similar button may trigger thedisplay update application 107 or the local program of the handhelddevice 120 to invoke the synchronization. In an alternative exampleembodiment of the present invention, synchronization may be invoked inresponse to each update in the display page representation.

In an example embodiment of the present invention, the website of theserver 100 may provide a link to a page of the content provider 110 thatincludes graphical objects which may be purchased. In response toselection of the link, the display update application 107 may provide awebpage that includes, instead of graphical objects of the vault 105,graphical objects which may be purchased from the content provider 110and which are provided by the content provider 110 to the server 100when the link to the content provider 110 is selected. Alternatively, asingle group of graphical objects including graphical objects of thevault 105 and the content provider 110 may be displayed. The website mayprovide for update of the display pages with graphical objects of thecontent provider 110 via interaction with the webpage displaying thegraphical objects of the content provider 110 in a manner similar tothat described above with respect to the graphical objects of the vault105. The user may drag one or more displayed objects of the contentprovider 110 to corresponding positions of the display pagerepresentation 201. If the user selects a “place order” button, thedragged objects occupying positions of the display page representation201 may be purchased. In response to the purchase, the vault 105 may beupdated to include the purchased graphical object(s), the table 203 ofthe display data store 106 may be updated to indicate an associationwith the relevant positions with the purchased graphical objects, and amessage may be sent by the content synchronization application 108 tothe handheld device 120 informing it of the update. According to theembodiment in which graphical objects of the vault 105 and of thecontent provider 110 may be displayed and manipulated together, apurchase transaction may be associated with the objects of the contentprovider 110, while an update without a purchase transaction may beassociated with the objects of the vault 105. In response to the userinput at the remote device 130 indicating an order placement for theobjects of the content provider 110, the server 100 may send an orderrequest to the content provider 110. Responsive to the request, thecontent provider may transmit the requested graphical object(s) to theserver 100.

In an alternative example embodiment, the webpage providing therepresentation of the display page and the graphical objects of thecontent provider 110 may be generated by the content provider 110. Forexample, the content provider 110 may include the components describedabove with respect to the generation by the server 100 of the webpage,e.g., a display data store 106, a content synchronization application108, and a display update application 107. According to this embodiment,the server 100 may provide a webpage using the vault 105 when a webpagehaving the graphical objects of the vault 105 is requested and thecontent provider 110 may provide a webpage using its locally storedgraphical objects offered for purchase when a webpage having thegraphical objects offered for purchase is requested. This embodiment mayprovide that a single webpage having both kinds of content, i.e., thevault 105 content and the graphical objects offered for sale would notbe provided. The webpage generated by the content provider 110 may beaccessed by the remote device 130 (or any device having web access) byentering the website address of the content provider 110. Alternatively,the webpage 110 may be accessed by selecting a link of a first webpageprovided by the server 100. In response to the link selection, the webbrowser may access the website of the content provider 110. Aninstruction entered at the remote device 130 for purchasing a graphicalobject or objects placed in a position of the display pagerepresentation may be transmitted directly to the content provider 110.The content provider 110 may update balance and billing records andtransmit a synchronization message to the handheld device 120 asdescribed above. Responsive to an update made to the data store ateither the server 100 or the content provider 110, the entity at whichthe update had been made may inform the other entity of the update andthe account to which the update is to be made so that the data stores ofeach may be synchronized. While the content provider 110 might not storea copy of the vault 105, the content provider 110 may store copies ofthose graphical objects that are associated with the positions of thedisplay page representation in its current state. Other synchronizationpaths may alternatively be implemented between the server 100, contentprovider 110, and handheld device 120.

According to the embodiment in which the server 100 and content provider110 provide separate webpages, when an update is entered at the handhelddevice 120 via a local non-web program of the handheld device 120, thehandheld device 120 may transmit a synchronization message to the server100 and to the content provider 110. Alternatively, the handheld device120 may transmit the synchronization message to the server 100 which mayforward the message to the content provider 110.

In an example embodiment of the present invention, the vault 105 maystore digital media modified by Digital Rights Management (DRM) softwareto protect the media's copyrights, trademarks, or other legal rights.For example, DRM protection may prevent a device which has received theDRM protected object from forwarding the object to another device.According to this embodiment, the content synchronization application108 may implement a DRM handler 109 to handle DRM algorithms for thesynchronization. The DRM handler 109 may implement a DRM protectionalgorithm to ensure that the graphical object files sent by the contentsynchronization application 108 using the MMS messages cannot beforwarded by the handheld device 120 to another device after it receivesthe object.

For example, in an example embodiment of the present invention, inresponse to a purchase order of a graphical object of the contentprovider 110 placed via the website of the server 100, the contentprovider 110 may send an unprotected version of the purchased object tothe server 100, since a protected version might prevent the server 100from forwarding the object to the handheld device 120. The displayupdate application 107 may include an application program interface(API) for interfacing with the content provider 110 to receive theobject from the content provider 110. In response to receipt of theobject from the content provider 110, the display update application 107may update the vault 105 and display data store 106. The display updateapplication 107 may invoke the content synchronization application 108to send the SMS/MMS message to the handheld device 120. Since the objectto be sent is a purchased object, the content synchronizationapplication 108 may invoke the DRM handler 109 to run a protectionalgorithm to apply DRM protection to the purchased object. Afterreceiving the modified object from the DRM handler 109, the contentsynchronization application 108 may forward the object to the handhelddevice 120. The modified version may be stored in the vault 105 so thatsubsequent synchronizations involving the graphical object would notrequire invoking the DRM handler 109. Alternatively, the DRM handler 109may be used for each synchronization operation in which the graphicalobject is included in a synchronization message.

According to either embodiment described above with respect to whetheror not a webpage having graphical objects of the content provider 110 isprovided by the server 100, the content provider 110 may also beaccessed directly by the handheld device 120 (or the remote device 130according to the embodiment in which the content provider provides awebpage having the display page representation and the graphical objectsoffered for sale) instead of via the website of the server 100. Thegraphical object sent by the content provider 110 to the handheld device120 may be DRM protected. The handheld device 120 may therefore beprevented from forwarding the graphical object file to the server 100for synchronization with the display data store 106. Accordingly, in anexample embodiment of the present invention, in response to a purchaseof a graphical object from the content provider 110, the contentprovider 110 may send a copy of the graphical object file to thehandheld device 120 and to the server 100. The handheld device 120 maysend a synchronization message to the server 100 which includes anidentification of the graphical object file (which the server 100 hasreceived from the content provider 100) instead of the graphical objectfile itself. Accordingly, when displaying the display pagerepresentation, the server 100 may access the identified file fordisplay of the purchased graphical object at its corresponding position.In an example embodiment of the present invention, the copy of thegraphical object file sent by the content provider 110 to the server 100may be without DRM protection. The server 100 may therefore forward theobject in synchronization messages sent to the handheld device 120 inresponse to additional updates made via the website. When preparing themessage to be sent to the handheld device 120, the contentsynchronization application 108 may implement the DRM handler 109 to DRMprotect the graphical object. Alternatively, the server 100 may triggerthe DRM handler 109 to add DRM protection to the object as soon as it isreceived from the content provider 110, i.e., prior to synchronizationmessage generation by the content synchronization application 108.Accordingly, even if the user modifies the display page of the handhelddevice so that the purchased object is no longer used, should the userdecide to reuse the object, the user may obtain the object from thevault 105.

In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, in response to adirect access of the content provider 110 by the handheld device 120 forthe purchase of a graphical object, the content provider may send asingle copy of the object to the server 100, which may, in turn, send amessage to the handheld device 120 including the object file with DRMprotection. However, an embodiment in which the content provider 110sends a copy to both the server 100 and the handheld device 120 may bepreferable since the handheld device 120 may be configured to refrainfrom outputting an alert acknowledging that the new content has beenreceived if the content is received at the handheld device 120 via theSMS/MMS message from the server 100, as described above. An alert,however, may be desirable if the change is made using the handhelddevice 120 to directly access the content provider 110.

FIG. 3A is a flowchart that illustrates a method of remotely updating adisplay page of the handheld device 120 via a webpage provided by theserver 100 according to an example embodiment of the present invention.At 300, in response to user input, the remote device 130 may transmit arequest for a webpage to the server 100. For example, the request mayinclude entering an Internet Protocol (IP) address, receiving a log-inpage, entering account information, e.g., regarding an account of acellular service provided by the server operating entity to the handhelddevice 120, and navigating towards a desired page, e.g., a pagereplicating at least a portion of a display page of the handheld device120 including defined positions reserved for association with contactsrecords and providing functionality for modification of the portion ofthe display page. At the end of the navigation, the remote device 120may transmit a page specific request for the display page replication tothe server 100.

Responsive to receipt of request, the server 100 may, at 302, transmit arequest to the content provider 110 for graphical objects, e.g., offeredfor sale by the content provider 110, for inclusion in the requestedwebpage. Alternatively the server 100 may incorporate into the webpagegraphical objects previously received from the content provider 110 thathave been locally stored at the server 100. In an example embodiment,whether the server 100 requests graphical objects from the contentprovider 100 may depend on whether the webpage request specifies arequest for objects from the content provider 110. At 304, the contentprovider 110 may transmit graphical objects to the server 100. Thegraphical objects may include an overlay such as “sample” before thegraphical objects are purchased.

At 306, the server 100 may generate the requested webpage. For thegeneration of the webpage, the server 100 may access the display datastore 106 to determine user settings regarding the display of thedisplay page at the handheld device 120, including which contactsrecords and graphical objects are associated with respective ones of thedefined positions of the display page. Based on the determined usersettings, the server 100 may generate a first section of the webpageincluding the display page replication. The replicated section mayinclude the defined positions populated with their associated graphicalobjects. While the set of defined positions may be reserved forassociation with contacts records, one or more of the positions mightnot yet have been associated with a contacts record, in which case theposition may be populated with an indicator of its availability for suchan association. Further, while the positions may be associable by theuser with graphical objects, one or more of the positions might not yethave been associated by the user with a graphical object, in which casea default graphical object may populate the position. Instead of theavailability indicator and/or the default graphical object, a screenbackground or text object may be used at the unassigned and/orunpopulated positions. The server 100 may also generate a second sectionof the requested page including selectable graphical objects of thevault 105 and/or received from the content provider 110. The server 100may include in the webpage animation functionality, e.g., for rotatingthe defined positions and/or carrying out a drag-and-drop operation. Forexample, the webpage may include Flash and/or Asynchronous JavaScriptand XML (Ajax) code or other animation friendly code. At 308, the server100 may transmit the generated webpage to the remote device 130.

At 310, in accordance with user input, the remote device 130 may modifythe first section of the webpage, e.g., by exchanging graphical objectsand/or contacts records between positions, and/or by dragging one ormore graphical objects from the second section of the webpage to one ormore of the positions of the first section. In response to themodification or in response to user input of an instruction to set themodification in the display page, the remote device 130 may, at 312,transmit the updated version of the webpage or of the first section ofthe webpage to the server 100.

Upon receiving the updated data, the server 100 may, at 314, determinewhether any graphical objects of the content provider 110 that has notyet been purchased has been placed at any of the positions of the firstsection. If such an object has been placed in a position, the server 100may, at 316, transmit a purchase request to the content provider 110.Responsive to the request, the content provider 110 may, at 318,transmit a non-DRM-protected version of the requested object(s) to theserver 100. After receiving the graphical object(s), the server 100 mayproceed to 320. If a graphical object of the content provider 110 thathas not been previously purchased has not been placed in any of thepositions, the server may proceed from 314 to 320.

At 320, the server 100 may update the vault 105 to include newlyobtained graphical objects that did not previously populate the vault105, if any. The server 100 may further update the display data store106 to reflect any changes to the association of positions to contactsrecords and/or graphical objects.

At 322, the server 100 may determine whether any of the objectsassociated with positions of the display page require DRM protection. Ifany object requires DRM protection, the server 100 may, at 324, generatea modified version of the object including DRM protection. Otherwise,the server 100 may proceed to 326. Also, after performance of thegeneration of the modified version at 324, the server 100 may proceed to326.

At 326, the server 100 may generate and send a synchronization messageincluding a list of modified positions and the graphical object fileswith which the listed positions are to be associated and with thegraphical objects of which the positions are to be populated in thedisplay page of the handheld device 120. If changes in the associationsbetween positions and contacts records have been made, the server 100may include in the synchronization message an indication of the contactsrecords with which the listed positions are to be associated.

At 328, the handheld device 120 may determine whether the receivedmessage matches a first stored message profile or a second storedmessage profile. If the handheld device 120 determines that the receivedmessage matches a first stored message profile, the handheld device may,at 329, output an alert indicating receipt of a new message. Otherwise,the handheld device 120 may, at 330, update a local data store ofgraphical objects and/or of data identifying associations between thepositions of the display page and their respective graphical objectsand/or their respective contacts records.

FIG. 3B is a flowchart that illustrates a method of remotely updating adisplay page of the handheld device 120 via a webpage provided by thecontent provider 110 according to an example embodiment of the presentinvention. The request at 300 may be to the content provider 100 for awebpage in which graphical objects offered for sale by the contentprovider or representations thereof, e.g., having an overlay, areincluded. Steps 306 and 308 may be performed by the content provider110. The updated webpage, including a purchase request, may betransmitted by the remote device 130 to the content provider 110 at 312. The content provider 110 may update its data accordingly at 320′ andmay, at 318, transmit the non-DRM-protected object along with the otherupdate data, including the new position-object associations to theserver 100 for the server 100 to update its data at 320. The contentprovider 110 may perform 324 and 326. In response to receipt of thesynchronization message sent at 326, the handheld device may perform 328and 330.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart that illustrates a method of updating the displaydata store 106 of the server 100 based on changes to a display page ofthe handheld device 120 made using a local program of the handhelddevice 120, according to an example embodiment of the present invention.

At 400, the handheld device 120 may modify an association of positionsof the display page with contacts records or graphical objects thatpopulate the positions. The change may include purchasing a graphicalobject from the content provider 110. The purchase is represented by thedashed lines in FIG. 4. A purchase request for a graphical object may besent to the content provider 110. At 402, the content provider maytransmit a DRM protected version of the requested graphical object tothe handheld device 120 and a non-DRM-protected version of the requestedgraphical object to the server 100.

In response to the change or in response to a user instruction to setthe changes, the handheld device 120 may, at 404, send a synchronizationmessage to the server 100. The synchronization message may include alist of modified positions and the names of the graphical object fileswith which the listed positions are to be associated and with thegraphical objects of which the positions are to be populated in thedisplay page of the handheld device 120 (and its replication in thewebpage generated by the server 100). If changes in the associationsbetween positions and contacts records have been made, the handhelddevice 120 may include in the synchronization message an indication ofthe contacts records with which the listed positions are to beassociated.

The server 100 may, at 406, update the vault 105 and the display datastore 106. For those positions that have been associated at the handhelddevice 120 with newly purchased graphical objects, if any, the server100 may update the display data store 106 to include an association ofthe positions with the non-DRM-protected files received from the contentprovider 110 and identified in the synchronization message received fromthe handheld device 110.

Those skilled in the art can appreciate from the foregoing descriptionthat the present invention may be implemented in a variety of forms,including, for example, variations of the sequence of the steps shown inFIGS. 3A, 3B and 4, and that the various embodiments may be implementedalone or in combination. Therefore, while the embodiments of the presentinvention have been described in connection with particular examplesthereof, the true scope of the embodiments and/or methods of the presentinvention should not be so limited since other modifications will becomeapparent to the skilled practitioner upon a study of the drawings,specification, and following claims.

1. A system for updating display pages of a handheld device, comprising:a first server configured to maintain a website; a first deviceconfigured to access the first server; and a second device configured todisplay a display page having a set of defined positions; wherein: inresponse to the access by the first device, the first server transmitsto the first device a webpage including a first section having arepresentation of the display page that visually appears as at least aportion of the display page including the set of defined positions and asecond section having a plurality of graphical objects; the firstdevice: displays the webpage; receives user input interpreted as aninteraction with the webpage to update the display page representationto include at one of the defined positions a selected one of thegraphical objects; and transmits to the first server data indicatingthat the update is to be applied to the display page; responsive toreceipt of the data transmitted to the first server, the first server:updates a positions-objects association such that the updatedpositions-objects association associates the one of the definedpositions with the selected graphical object; and transmits asynchronization message to the second device identifying the associationof the one of the defined positions with the selected graphical object;and the second device displays, in accordance with the synchronizationmessage, an updated version of the display page including the selectedgraphical object at the one of the defined positions.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein: the plurality of graphical objects of the secondportion includes graphical objects offered for sale by a contentprovider; responsive to receipt of the data transmitted to the firstserver, the first server sends a purchase request to the contentprovider for the selected graphical object; and the first serverreceives a copy of the selected graphical object from the contentprovider.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the copy is sent by thecontent provider without Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection tothe first server, the first server modifies the copy to include the DRMprotection, and the identification of the association of the one of thedefined positions with the selected graphical object in thesynchronization message includes the modified copy.
 4. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the data is transmitted to the first server in responseto a user input instruction to update the display page to appear as theupdated display page representation.
 5. The system of claim 1, whereinthe synchronization message includes at least one of a Short MessagingService (SMS) and a Multimedia Messaging service (MMS) message.
 6. Thesystem of claim 5, wherein: the second device: stores a first MMSprofile and a second MMS profile, the synchronization message includingan MMS message that is in accordance with the second MMS profile; andoutputs an alert responsive to receipt of a message that is inaccordance with the first MMS profile and not in response to receipt ofany message that is in accordance with the second MMS profile; and thedisplay of the updated version of the display page by the second deviceoccurs without any user interaction with the second device.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein: each of the set of defined positions isreserved for association with a corresponding contacts record; and thedisplay page of the second device includes functionality such thatresponsive to selection of the selected graphical object in the one ofthe defined positions of the updated version of the display page, thesecond device one of displays the contacts record corresponding to theone of the defined positions and initiates a communication in accordancewith at least one communication listing of the corresponding contactsrecord.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein: responsive to user inputentered at the second device for updating the display page to include atthe one of the defined positions a second graphical object, the seconddevice transmits a synchronization message to the first serveridentifying the association of the one of the defined positions with thesecond graphical object; and responsive to receipt of thesynchronization message transmitted by the second device, the firstserver updates a positions-objects association.
 9. The system of claim8, wherein: the updating the display page to include at the one of thedefined positions the second graphical object includes the second devicetransmitting a request to a content provider to purchase the secondgraphical object; responsive to the request, the content providertransmits a version of the second graphical object having Digital RightsManagement (DRM) protection to the second device and a version of thesecond graphical object without the DRM protection to the first server;and the identification of the association of the one of the definedpositions with the second graphical object identifies the version of thesecond graphical object transmitted by the content provider to the firstserver.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the interaction includes adrag-and-drop operation of the selected graphical object from the secondsection to the one of the defined positions in the first section. 11.The system of claim 1, wherein the second device is a cellulartelephone.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first server and thewebsite are maintained by a provider of cellular service to the cellulartelephone.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein: the plurality ofgraphical objects of the second portion includes graphical objectsoffered for sale; responsive to receipt of the data transmitted to thefirst server, the first server: sends a copy of the selected graphicalobject without Digital Rights Management (DRM) protection to a secondserver; and generates a copy of the selected graphical object includingthe DRM protection; and the synchronization message includes the copyincluding the DRM protection.
 14. A method for updating display pages ofa handheld device, comprising: responsive to access of a first server bya first device, the first server transmitting to the first device awebpage that includes a first section having a representation of adisplay page that a second device is configured to display, the displaypage having a set of defined positions, and that includes a secondsection having a plurality of graphical objects, wherein therepresentation of the display page visually appears as at least aportion of the display page including the set of defined positions; thefirst device: displaying the webpage; receiving user input interpretedas an interaction with the webpage to update the display pagerepresentation to include at one of the defined positions a selected oneof the graphical objects; and transmitting to the first server dataindicating that the update is to be applied to the display page;responsive to receipt of the data transmitted to the first server, thefirst server: updating a positions-objects association such that theupdated positions-objects association associates the one of the definedpositions with the selected graphical object; and transmitting asynchronization message to the second device identifying the associationof the one of the defined positions with the selected graphical object;and the second device displaying, in accordance with the synchronizationmessage, an updated version of the display page including the selectedgraphical object at the one of the defined positions.
 15. The method ofclaim 14, wherein the plurality of graphical objects of the secondportion includes graphical objects offered for sale by a contentprovider, the method further comprising: responsive to receipt of thedata transmitted to the first server, the first server sending apurchase request to the content provider for the selected graphicalobject; and the first server receiving a copy of the selected graphicalobject from the content provider.
 16. The method of claim 15, whereinthe copy is sent by the content provider without Digital RightsManagement (DRM) protection to the first server, the method furthercomprising: the first server modifying the copy to include the DRMprotection, the association of the one of the defined positions with theselected graphical object in the synchronization message including themodified copy.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein the data istransmitted to the first server in response to a user input instructionto update the display page to appear as the updated display pagerepresentation.
 18. The method of claim 14, wherein the synchronizationmessage includes at least one of a Short Messaging Service (SMS) and aMultimedia Messaging service (MMS) message.
 19. The method of claim 18,further comprising: the second device: storing a first MMS profile and asecond MMS profile, the synchronization message including an MMS messagethat is in accordance with the second MMS profile; and outputting analert responsive to receipt of a message that is in accordance with thefirst MMS profile and not in response to receipt of any message that isin accordance with the second MMS profile.
 20. The method of claim 14,wherein: each of the set of defined positions is reserved forassociation with a corresponding contacts record; and the display pageof the second device includes functionality such that responsive toselection of the selected graphical object in the one of the definedpositions of the updated version of the display page, the second deviceone of displays the contacts record corresponding to the one of thedefined positions and initiates a communication in accordance with atleast one communication listing of the corresponding contacts record.21. The method of claim 14, further comprising: responsive to user inputentered at the second device for updating the display page to include atthe one of the defined positions a second graphical object, the seconddevice transmitting a synchronization message to the first serveridentifying the association of the one of the defined positions with thesecond graphical object; and responsive to receipt of thesynchronization message transmitted by the second device, the firstserver updating a positions-objects association.
 22. The method of claim21, further comprising: responsive to the user input entered at thesecond device for updating the display page, the second devicetransmitting a request to a content provider to purchase the secondgraphical object; the second device receiving from the content providera version of the second graphical object having Digital RightsManagement (DRM) protection and that was transmitted to the seconddevice by the content provider in response to the request; and the firstserver receiving from the content provider a version of the secondgraphical object without the DRM protection that was transmitted to thefirst server by the content provider in response to the request; whereinthe identification of the association of the one of the definedpositions with the second graphical object of the synchronizationmessage transmitted by the second device identifies the version of thesecond graphical object received by the first server from the contentprovider.
 23. The method of claim 14, wherein the interaction includes adrag-and-drop operation of the selected graphical object from the secondsection to the one of the defined positions in the first section.
 24. Adisplay page modification method comprising: providing a webpageincluding a first section having a visual replication of at least aportion of a display page of a device and a second section including aplurality of graphical objects, the webpage including interactivefunctionality for modification of the visual replication in response toa drag-and-drop operation of one of the plurality of graphical objectsto a position in the visual replication; and responsive to receipt of aninstruction to permanently set the modification, transmitting asynchronization message to the device indicating an association of theone of the plurality of graphical objects with the position.
 25. Acomputer-readable medium having stored thereon instructions adapted tobe executed by a processor, the instructions which, when executed, causethe processor to perform a display page modification method, the methodcomprising: providing a webpage including a first section having avisual replication of at least a portion of a display page of a deviceand a second section including a plurality of graphical objects, thewebpage including interactive functionality for modification of thevisual replication in response to a drag-and-drop operation of one ofthe plurality of graphical objects to a position in the visualreplication; and responsive to receipt of an instruction to permanentlyset the modification, transmitting a synchronization message to thedevice indicating an association of the one of the plurality ofgraphical objects with the position.
 26. The system of claim 5, wherein:the plurality of graphical objects of the second portion includesgraphical objects offered for sale by a content provider; responsive toreceipt of the data transmitted to the first server, the first serversends a purchase request to the content provider for the selectedgraphical object; the first server receives a copy of the selectedgraphical object from the content provider, and wherein the copy is sentby the content provider without Digital Rights Management (DRM)protection to the first server, the first server modifies the copy toinclude the DRM protection, and the identification of the association ofthe one of the defined positions with the selected graphical object inthe synchronization message includes the modified copy.